WORK FORCE I S SUE S
NHS faces ‘exodus’, IPPR warns Government
A new poll has found that one in four healthcare staff – equivalent to 330,000 workers – are ‘more likely’ to leave the NHS in England after a year of pandemic pressure. Pay rise was cited as the most important issue for seven in 10 workers, while new evidence has shown the harrowing state of staff’s mental health.
A major think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), has warned the Government to commit to a new deal for healthcare workers or risk a ‘deadly exodus’. The warning follows the results of a poll by IPPR/YouGov which found that as many as one in four healthcare workers – equivalent to 330,000 staff – say they are more likely to leave the NHS due to a year of unprecedented pressure. The figure, which includes the equivalent of 100,000 nurses and 8,000 midwives, adds pressure to a workforce that was experiencing a crisis of unfilled vacancies even before the pandemic. The IPPR’s new report ‘Recover, Reward,
Renew’ argues that this is a direct result of pandemic pressures, on top of a decade of austerity. The poll of 1,000 healthcare workers revealed that: l Workers have been under severe strain during the pandemic. Just under half worked an under-staffed shift once a week or more, and 49% report being unable to provide the level of patient care they would like to due to constraints beyond their control.
l The mental health impact of the pandemic has been severe. Two-thirds report being mentally exhausted on at least a weekly basis. A quarter report using alcohol and/ or drugs to deal with stress weekly or more often and 5% of workers – the equivalent of 80,000 staff – report thinking about suicide or self-harm once a week or more.
l Discrimination is rife. Workers from minority ethnic backgrounds were twice as likely to report experiencing discrimination or unfair treatment from managers or colleagues (31%) compared to staff from white ethnic backgrounds (16%).
l Government policy is seen as a key driver of the pandemic’s severity. Almost nine in 10 workers identify slow or delayed Government policy during the pandemic – such as late lockdowns – as an important
MAY 2021
contributor to the country’s COVID-19 outcomes. Eight in 10 identify the fact the NHS was under-resourced at the start of the pandemic as important.
The new analysis follows IPPR’s previous report, The State of Health and Care, which demonstrated the significant health challenge the country now faces. The report stated that an extra £12 billion a year is needed to invest in the NHS and care system, to recover the damage done by COVID-19. Key findings included: l GP appointments: There have been 31 million fewer GP appointments since the pandemic began. An issue falling hardest on people with long-term conditions.
l Avoidable cancer deaths: An additional 4,500 avoidable cancer deaths are expected this year because of pandemic disruptions. Undoing at least eight years of colorectal cancer survival rate progress, six years in breast cancer survival rates, and
two years in lung cancer survival progress. The proportion of cancers diagnosed while still highly curable has dropped from 44% to 41%.
l Mental health: Checks on people with severe mental illnesses have fallen below a third of their target levels. 235,000 fewer people have been referred for psychological therapies. Eating disorder referrals for children have doubled and waiting lists have reached a five-year high. Children’s rates of common and severe mental illness have risen sharply during the pandemic.
l Care homes: The low care home death toll during the second wave suggests most of the 30,000 care home deaths in the first wave were largely avoidable.
l Avoidable severe illness: An additional 12,000 avoidable heart attacks and strokes are expected in the next five years due to COVID-19 disruptions to routine health services.
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